Professionalization and economization of rural NGOs and the activity of their members. An example of local action groups from Wielkopolska

Abstract

Among rural non-governmental organisations there are those, which unite few members and act incidentally using mainly the resources which have been obtained from member fees, as well as those, which unite several hundreds of people and conduct regu- lar activities characterised by high level of economisation and professionalisation. The other kind of organisations can be exemplified by local action groups. The purpose of this article is to address the question whether the high level of professionalisation and economisation has positive influence on the activities of its members or – the opposite – it constitutes a hindrance. The issue shall be addressed basing on research (carried out via the distributed surveys) conducted in 2012 on a sample of 104 respondents from local action groups located within the territory of Wielkopolska. The analysis demonstrated that the high level of economisation and professionalisation of an organisation does not imply increased activity of its members